There are two things to take away from the David Robertson trade upon seeing the latest MLB Pipeline rankings. Yes, it’s arbitrary and these lists are the ultimate estimations in sports. Nonetheless, they’re referenced and taken as gospel by many of us. We put trust in the scouts and analysts to know which youngsters have the talent to be really good and who might not make it. Following the recent Mets trade involving Robertson, their top 10 looks much different.
Marco Vargas, the infielder the Mets acquired for Robertson, ranks sixth in the Mets system. Behind pitcher Blade Tidwell and ahead of Dominic Hamel, he comes over from the Miami Marlins having been previously ranked at number 18 in their system. The other player the Mets got, Ronald Hernandez, was ranked 21st and is now 17th with the Mets.
The first and gloomier takeaway is how the Marlins have a significantly better farm system where their number 18 guy is number 6 for the Mets. The more positive: did the Mets just get a stud?
The top 10 NY Mets prospects have a new addition with Marco Vargas
Go back to any season in the past and you’ll see top prospects lists that haven’t aged so well. Five years ago in 2018, Pete Alonso was fourth with David Peterson second. Justin Dunn, who has yet to make it in the majors, was third.
Top prospect lists require some time, too. For years, it was Victor Robles who was the highly-touted Washington Nationals outfield prospect. Even Michael A. Taylor had a lot of hype. Then came a guy named Juan Soto who played more, grew more, and mashed more. Time is what young prospects sometimes need. Vargas turned 18 in May.
This isn’t to say Vargas is destined for greatness, but with such a high spot within the Mets system after swapping organizations, there’s a little more sense of positivity about the deal. It’s our patience that will need to flex strongest.
Doubt that the Mets got anything of significance back is understandable because of a history of trades like this offering them nothing. Vargas isn’t a Jacob Rhame, Eric Hanhold, or some other bullpen arm that’ll fizzle out quickly. He’s a lottery ticket while those others have been Chuck E. Cheese tokens that can offer you a fun game of skeeball yet don’t have much value anywhere else.